Data Visualization: What does it mean for IT and Business?

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Business Intelligence, Marketing Musings

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words, and it can certainly be nice to present data in visual form. But on the IT and analytical side, we are sometimes skeptical of pretty pictures. We worry they can oversimplify data, mislead viewers, or prevent the kind of manipulation (i.e. sorting, filtering, and pivoting) we need to garner real business insights.

So, when should you use your data to create a visual representation of your business intelligence? I thinks it depends on two main factors:

  • Who is your audience? Are you talking to other analysts, your marketing team, or executives? How much time will you have? What are their priorities? As with any presentation, this should guide how detailed your visualization is.
  • Will the visualization make your data substantially clearer? Can you find a visual format that is easily comprehensible? You want the visualization to illuminate your data, rather than obscuring it. If your charts distract viewers from the important insights, causing them to fixate on red herrings, reconsider your visualization.

Because we have more data, faster processing, and more complex data sources, Business Intelligence now has access to a quantity (and quality) of data that was previously only accessible to enormous research firms—or NASA. Making sense of this data is harder than ever, and design can be a vital part of digesting and presenting data effectively. (A recent TED talk did a great job of showing just how helpful it can be.)

IT’s cultural hesitation about “just” pretty pictures is justified: how many times have we had someone draw up an elegant UI on a wireframe, but neglect to involve the technical team in discussions about feasibility and long term flexibility and support? We know that starting with the picture can run the risk of creating unrealistic expectations or ignoring technical realities. We prefer to start with data and the ability to sort, filter, pivot and manipulate it in whatever ways we need to make our analysis.

On the other hand, if I’m a Chief Marketing Officer and I can quickly illustrate—with hard data—my claim that this year’s campaigns have been more effective than last year’s, my CEO is much more likely to sign off on the budget I’m seeking for next year. A dramatically sloped line, intriguingly weighted pie chart, or clear spatial correlation can be stunningly persuasive. What if I could look at multiple campaigns and channels and overlay the impact one has when used in conjunction with another one? For instance, email and a quick follow up phone call vs. a newsletter sent out after a trade show?

If I’m a business owner, good data visualization can give me a snapshot of how my business is performing as well as helping me spot trends and trouble spots more quickly. For the techie in IT, visualization provides validation for my business intelligence initiatives by increasing understanding of them among those who operate more at the business level.

Recently I attended a Seattle Technical Start Up meeting, where Tableau Software presented their method for visualization of data about FAA accidents with various types of birds. The type of bird was represented by a colored circle which grew in size relative to the total cost of the collision with the airplane. At a glance, you could tell which type of bird caused the greatest damage and filter by time of day or type of aircraft, drilling down to the underlying source and raw data to appease their need to see the numbers.

If we can more quickly and clearly understand the vast amounts of data we all are confronted with on a daily basis and use this information to make changes in our business processes earlier on, we’re one step closer to the promised land of analytical enlightenment.

Contact me at brianh@projectlineinc.com if you would like to learn more.

Projectline Ranked Top Northwest Company by Inc. Magazine

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News

For the third consecutive year, Projectline Services, Inc. has earned a place on Inc. Magazine’s list of the fastest-growing private companies in America.

For more than thirty years, the Inc. list has served as evidence of the significant accomplishments of America’s top entrepreneurs. The 2010 list, in particular, speaks to the creativity and resilience of businesses who have continued to grow in a down economy.

Projectline owners David Jones, Mike Kichline, and Anika Lehde are proud to celebrate the company’s ongoing year over year growth. “Our Business Intelligence and Marketing Operations divisions have really been thriving this year,” says President Mike Kichline. “We’re excited that we’ve been able to maintain success in our Customer Engagement Marketing and Consulting Services divisions while expanding these newer arms of our business,” adds Vice President Anika Lehde.

David Jones contributes: “It’s great to see how we’ve maintained a steady growth curve in a down economy. Our expectations for the next year are even loftier and we are excited about the new clients we have taken on.”

Jones, Kichline, and Lehde also continue to closely monitor the overall health of their business, keeping a constant eye on the wellbeing, success, and happiness of their team. “It’s so great to be able to put this award on the wall next to our Best Workplaces awards,” says Human Resources Manager Leisl Hill. “Not only are our employees happy, they’re productive, their clients are happy, and they’re helping this company grow.”

Microsoft SharePoint Senior Product Manager and Projectline client Mitch Gatchalian echoes this sentiment. “Our programs have consistently been enhanced by the professionalism of our partners at Projectline. Their commitment to their customers’ success has really shined through over the past years. Congratulations to the Projectline team for this well-earned achievement.”

Founded in 1979, Inc. magazine delivers real solutions for today’s innovative company builders. Inc. provides hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology.

For questions or press inquiries, please contact Julia MacCracken.

Avoiding the customer community graveyard

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Customer Communities, Marketing Musings

Online customer communities are all the rage these days. One doesn’t have to look very far to see a Facebook or Twitter page rife with customers chattering back and forth, providing valuable word of mouth advertising without the cost of big media buys. However, for every Comcast and Ford, there’s a graveyard of communities that never get off the ground. The scenario goes something like this:

  • Step 1: Enterprise 2.0 savvy marketer gets buy-in from boss on a customer community.
  • Step 2: Enterprise 2.0 savvy marketer builds community using the newest, latest cool online tool – something with lots of vowels in its name.
  • Step 3: Enterprise 2.0 savvy marketer invites customer community to visit the online site.
  • Step 4: and then nothing happens…

Well, the boss complains about a failed project, but that’s likely not the desired result. When it comes to online communities, the argument of nature vs. nurture is irrelevant. If you lock five people in a room for a period of time, those persons have no choice but to interact. In the online world, there’s always something else vying your communities’ eyeballs.

You can do everything right in planning your community, but without ongoing management, marketing, and maintenance, you set yourself up for a lone spike in traffic, and that’s it. As much as organizations want customer feedback, customers also want a reason to come back to the community. You don’t have to create elaborate content to keep users returning, but you will need to maintain an ongoing presence that speaks to the needs of your customer base.

This maintenance should be as much a part of the community plan as setting up the goals and choosing your initial customer targets, and resources should be allocated accordingly. Plan for ongoing content creation, and remember that even if you intend to be the key point of engagement for your community, your time is not free. In most cases, a successful customer community has a dedicated community manager that can focus on community promotion, content creation, community monitoring, and reporting. A dedicated community manager can help you build a stronger relationship between your company and your customers.

At Projectline, we love nothing more than creating spaces for the voice of the customer to ring loud and clear. We can help you build and grow a community where your customers can share their experiences, learn from your leadership, and provide much-needed feedback for strategic planning. When run correctly, these communities can also increase customer loyalty and positive word of mouth.

Article: 4 steps to a better customer dimension

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Business Intelligence, Marketing Musings

We’re excited to share a great new article from our Business Intelligence team: 4 Steps to a Better Customer Dimension.

Good business intelligence is invaluable in helping companies decipher the flood of information about their customers. A well-designed, flexible customer dimension is crucial to gathering, filtering, and presenting customer data effectively.

Our article spells out the most important considerations in building or improving a robust customer dimension. We offer recommendations that are relevant for business intelligence challenges shared by startups and Fortune 500 corporations alike. We’ll discuss why you should plan for core business needs, prepare for flexibility, prioritize for swift adoption, and design with the future in mind.

It’s totally free to read and download, so please–take a look, read it through, and let us know if it raises any questions for you. We’d love to answer them in the next installment!